Linux Server

A Linux Server is a free operating system that can be configured for everything from traditional web servers such as WordPress and .NET based web applications (e.g. Blazor) to VPN Server, Database Server, Git Version Control Server and much more.

Linux Server

Linux is an operating system similar to Windows or MacOS, but what makes Linux special is that it is open source and completely free. Linux can be used either as a desktop operating system with a graphical user interface or as a server where a text-based command line interface is fine.

You can get Linux on a computer/server by installing a so-called Linux Distrubition. There are many of them, such as Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat, Fedora, SuSE and many more. I believe Ubuntu is the most widely used, and it's the one I have the most experience with.

What can a Linux Server be used for?

A Linux Server can be used for many different purposes, here is a list of some of the things I have used Linux Servers for:

  • Web Server
    Linux works well as a web server for e.g. WordPress sites, for example, could be made with an Apache web server and a MySql database server and some PHP packages.
  • Database Server
    MySql Server that can be used either by websites or custom applications
  • Network Services
    Linux has all the network services you need, I've used it for DNS server and DHCP server
  • .NET Application Server
    Linux can run ASP.NET applications via the kestrel web server, incl. Blazor apps
  • VPN
    With OpenVPN, you can create a good and secure VPN connection to remotely access your network.
  • Version control
    I have a Git Server running on Linux, where I can both handle version control of source code for development projects and handle working on the same projects from multiple devices. But in addition to source code, Git also works really well with everything else, such as documents, configuration and presentations.
  • Virtualization Platform
    With the Proxmox Virtual Environment product, you can create a really nice virtualization environment on a regular small desktop computer. A Linux Server without the graphical user interface doesn't require much of your hardware.

Installing Linux

You can run Linux on many different types of devices. Either on small Raspberry Pi computers or a large and powerful server. One way to start is to install Windows Subsystem for Linux on your Windows computer, which gives you access to a Linux operating system that automatically starts on your computer when you launch the terminal program.

How to install Linux on Windows with WSL

Cloud solution

Another way to get a Linux machine is to purchase a cloud solution, there are many options, such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon Web Services (AWS). I have previously purchased virtual servers from Linode and have been very satisfied with their solution. Linode appears to have been acquired by another company and is changing its name to Akamai. At Linode, you can start by buying a small server with 1 GB RAM and 1 CPU for $5/month, and then you can simply upgrade the "hardware" as needed.

Virtualization

The last method I would mention is to have your own virtualization platform where you can create servers as needed. You can do this with the product Proxmox, for example, which I would recommend. For example, you can have an "Ubuntu Template" that you can create a new instance of in seconds, and then have a Linux Server running for an experiment or similar in a very short time.

Here is a small series of YouTube videos showing how to get started with Proxmox.

Contact us

Feel free to contact me if you would like me to help you implement a Linux server in your organization.

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